I'm at the wire tightening and tack welding stage of my Southwester Dory today. As I was alone, I flipped the boat over by making use of some of my climbing gear to sling her to the bottom the upstairs floor joists (basement/garage shop) and rotae her in place. I hated to hear and see the boat flexing, but she survived the ordeal. I don't like how the sides flex outward when resting upside down on the pallets I've created out of folded-up tables. My saw horses are not wide enough, and would have to go way out on the ends. I positioned the tables near the fore and aft bulkheads. I couldn't put them right on the bulkeads as they are only 48" long and the boat is wider at those points. I guess the flex is normal, and we just live with it? I'm hoping it will not affect the tightening of the wires and the tack welds. Anything to be concerned about, or just carry on?
Well, I've carried on. Almost ready to start tacking. I had to undo and redo an area around the stem to get things aligned a little better, and the same around the transom. The transom has surely been the most difficult area. I've used at least two times the necessary wire getting things aligned properly and I have 1/16" holes poked in all of my fingers.
Aaron
I am just finishing my Southwester. You might want to take the time to add a longer 2 x 4 to the top of your sawhorses or, like I did, build two new horses that are wide enough and only about 18 inches off the floor.
I’m a finish carpenter by trade and I didn’t have a sawhorse that would work. I also found the lower height of my new horses was easier to work on the interior of the boat. I knew that I would have this project sitting on these horses for months, so having something sturdy in the correct height was important to me. Good luck!
Thanks John, your boat looks fantastic! It’s a topic for a different thread, but it looks like you’ve done something different with the motor well? I like the storage in the side compartment as well, I was envisioning something like that myself. Whenever I get on somebody else’s boat, I always like to have a place to stow the dry bag that holds my keys, wallet, phone, etc.
I did manage to get everything tacked up, the structural fillets added, and the plank seams filled. I’m now losing a battle with fiberglass.
I ended up making a pair of platforms of sorts that keep the boat just off of the floor high enough to crawl under if I need to and also allow me to shift the boat around when I need space on one side or the other. When I hoist the boat to flip it over I don’t have to lift it very high. It works pretty well. Some extra wide saw horses would be a good idea as well. I need to build a ladder for my loft sometime soon, maybe I will make some saw horses while I am at it.